Friday Fitness Fun Fact
Body fat measurements and the measuring tape are recognized as superior methods for measuring "weight loss" and for determining your ideal goal weight. When one declares that they want to "lose weight", what they should mean is that they want to lose fat.
First, your body fat percentage is simply the percentage of fat your body contains. If you are 150 pounds and 10% fat, it means that your body consists of 15 pounds fat and 135 pounds lean body mass (bone, muscle, organ tissue, blood and everything else).
A certain amount of fat is essential to bodily functions. Fat regulates body temperature, cushions and insulates organs and tissues and is the main form of the body's energy storage. The following table describes body fat ranges and their associated categories.
| Classification | Women (% fat) | Men (% fat) |
|---|---|---|
| Essential Fat | 10-12% | 2-4% |
| Athletes | 14-20% | 6-13% |
| Fitness | 21-24% | 14-17% |
| Acceptable | 25-31% | 18-25% |
| Obese | 32% plus | 25% plus |
Knowing your body fat percentage can also help you determine if your weight loss goals are realistic. Remember, weight loss doesn't always mean fat loss. For example:
Let's say you're a 130# woman with 23% body fat, and you goal is to "lose 20 pounds":
Initial body fat: 130# x 0.23 fat = 30 # body fat
Lean body mass: 130# total - 30# fat = 100# lean body mass (bones, organs and all else)
Goal: 130# - 20# = 110 pounds
As you can see, the goal of losing 20 pounds is not realistic or healthy. At 110 pounds, this woman still requires 100# of lean body mass (bones, organs, etc.), but would only be carrying 10 pounds (30-20), or only 9% (10 / 110) body fat. From the chart above, you can see that this is a dangerously low percentage. Lose too many pounds and you will end up losing lean body mass (usually metabolically-active muscle tissue), which is clearly not desirable.
So before you decide that you need to "lose weight", remember to consider that "weight" consists of both lean body mass and body fat. Try to keep your weight loss goals realistic, and remember, keep the calorie-burning muscle, and lose only the fat.
Measuring Your Body Fat Percentage
There are several ways to measure your body fat, one being taking out the measuring tape and determining the circumferrence of your neck, abdomen and height. The is the method used by the US Navy and is easy and relatively accurate. Here's a link to an online calculator.
http://www.bblex.de/en/calc/navy.php
Other methods include the dunk test, skin fold using calipers test or using scales that send an electronic impulse through your body.
